Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-06-03

Robbins 3; passed balls, Juckett 2, johnson 3
Hackett | Two base hit Graves /. Time OF
2game hours
Canadian Sentiment in Respect &c
Annexation.
The New York World sent special re
porter to Canada in O'Briens's wake, and
instructed him in addition to describing
the Irish agitator's stormy experience, tc
make special inquiries as to the bent Of
public opinion in Canada on the question
of annexation to the United States. lie
accordingly held interviews with many
representative citizens of the Domin
ion and collected facts, in regard
to business in many quarters. HIS
main conclusions are that Canada is
in state of stagnation. There is no prog
ress there. The policy which the govern
ment has attempted to carry out has
proven a failure and the country is heav-
lily burdened with debt. Its geographical
location makes free communication and
alliance with the United States natural,
and the eyes of large section of the peo-
pie are being opened to this tact. Large
bodies of the people in some of the prov
inces have been for years crying for an
the existing depression in various Cana
dian industries. Among the considera
tions which make for annexation he men
tions the following
The Dominion, being all in one zone,
| does not possess the various climates and
productions that the United States en-
joys. With them it is simply case of
swapping jackknives. A tax put on to
protect iron in Nova Scotia Immediately
strikes the consumer in Ontario. where
there is iron but no coal, and the con-
sumner in the Northwest, where there is
neither coal nor iron. The provinces have
to be continually bribed to behave them
selves, as it were, by the Dominion gov.
eminent Each State in the United
States pays its own way, getting nothing
from the federal government. But at the
time of the confederation in Canada there
was instituted system of giving subsi-
dies which has worked very hurtfully.
The provinces draw so much per head
from the Dominion treasury. The result
is that, knowing they have the vaults at
Ottawa to fall back upon. they launch
| into all sorts of extravaganza, and when
they become involved in debt through
their members in the Dominion legsa-
ture demand larger subsidies. This has
helped to pile up the national debt until
the net debt now is S225, 900 900, or taking
into account the individual debts of the
|
ton of about 4 100000. The great province
of Ontario owes nothing at ALL and her
| constant complaint is that she is the COW
from which all the others are sucking. In
her discomfort at this state of affairs lies
part of the cause for the feeling that is
gaining ground there that annexation
might not be a bad thing.
THE GREAT DEBTS OF CANADA.
This vast debt, produced by the building
of these railroads by the large subsidies
extorted by the provinces and the various
other costly undertakings designed to
keep the provinces in harmony has raised
the rate OF taxation enormously, and as
they feel its pinching and realize that it
can't be helped because they have an
empty treas ury, the Canadian people gaze
enviously at the United States, with its
overlooking Golfers and decreasing
debt. Then there is complaint from
the farmer that at the prevailing
railroad rates he cannot get his prod
ucts to any point where it will pay him
The farms as rule are heavily mort
gagged In the province of Ontario alone
which is very largely a farming district,
the private mortgages amount to about
$l30, 900, 900, on which the average rate OF
J interest is so per cent Thus, with heavy
} taxation, heavy mortgage debt and low
| pClCeS, III WHICH lucTe Is no prospect Oh 4
rise the farmer Is in pretty bad fix, and
the protective duties simply agQravate the
situation. All this has led to the demand
} by the farmers for commercial union OF
annexation. When asked in what way
they would be benefited by an oblitera
; ton of the dividing line they respond
that, aside altogether from the farmer
getting his manufactured goods cheaper
which would be considerable item, he
J would be able to sell his barley, which he
now ships to the United States, without
, having to pay duty at the frontier. He
would be able to sell his horses to better
: advantage than he can now, having to pay
D 80 per cent duty on them-or rather hav
ing to submit to 80 per cent deduction
on their value by the residents o.
the United States who purchase
them, which is the same thing
The benefit to the Canadian lum
herman is pointed out. The forests of tn,
United States are being thinned out
while Canada has vast lumber tracts thai
she don't know what to do with, beCaus,
the present tariff closes the United State.
market to her The lumber interest come.
next to the agricultural in Canada, ant
! with Its improvement the Ontario farmel
would naturally be helped, inasmuch a,
he furnishes the supplies to the lumber
, camps.
THE PRONOUNCED DIsAFFECTIoN IN now
SCOTIA.
In Nova Scotia and the other MARTIN,
provinces the disaffecton is still NOR,
pronounced. Their productions are Goa
l and lumber. They don't produce bread
stuffs AS already stated, the expecta
, ton in confederation was that Their,
, should be an exchange of products be
tween the provinces. That was tn,
, theory, but it has not worked well il
practice 1t has been found that no tariff
, that could be put on could force coal from
Nova Scotia to, say, Winnipeg, a dis
tance of 1900 miles or so, at which poin
2 the Pennsylvania coal fields are much
more acce. sibe 1t Is the same with re
gard to fish. There is comparatively
little Of that goes from Nova Scotii
} to the main consumers. The larges
supply comes from Boston. Under cover
of heavy tariff Ontario is selling Nov,
Scotia much wheat which could be oh
tanned much cheaper from the United
: States. The result of all this is that III,
, maritime prOyinppS-NpVa Scotia primo,